OPSA can help you run your school ball/event:

Form a Ball Committee(many hands make lighter work) and set a budget to determine a ticket price. Some things to think about:

Numbers? Attendance numbers will determine the budget.

Date? Leave yourself enough time to plan and sell tickets, and make sure parts of your School aren’t on placement or exams, etc.

Venue, make sure you know what is and isn’t included in the venue cost

Other costs? eg cleaning, security, etc.

Theme?

Live band, DJ, or playlist? Don’t forget to factor in costs of sound equipment hire if they need gear.

Decorations?

Catering, eg set menu or finger food?

Ideal ticket price? Make it too expensive and people will not come.

Maximum numbers for venue?

Minimum numbers needs to be financially viable?

Cancellation date for venue?

Cut off date for ticket sales? Otherwise you won’t know if it’s financially viable until it’s too late to cancel. A good idea can be to make the ticket price dearer in the last week eg $50 Tickets: $50 ($60 if you buy within a week before the ball).

Some money saving tips:

Some venues will allow you to supply your own food.

Venues that are not professional events venues (ie where you have to do more of the work and jazz them up with decorations, etc) will be cheaper, and give you the opportunity to make it a different ball to others.

Be thoughtful about decorations and theme, some students have done excellent decoration on very minimal budgets.

Candles are a cheap way to create atmosphere (though can be dangerous around intoxicated people).

Photographers: Some local companies will attend your ball with a portable studio and take shots for free as long as you help them promote the shots to attendees to buy afterwards.

Clean the venue yourself (make sure you have a team and don’t get lumped with it all yourself).

Bigger numbers get better deals, so consider joining with another School and having a joint ball. This could be a similar School, or something out of the box (eg Nurses & Builders Ball).

Try to seek some sponsorship and deals.

Contact suit hire, dress & accessories vendors, hairdressers, restaurants, etc and do a deal to include discount vouchers along with your tickets.

Making a budget:

Create your own spreadsheet of costs to calculate how much you’re paying, and how much money you expect to receive (eg through ticket sales/sponsorship).

Calculate worst-case scenarios (ie highest costs and lowest attendance numbers). This is better than being massively optimistic and being disappointed.

To cover your expenses, ensure you sell the tickets for more than cost price.

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About OPSA

Otago Polytechnic Students’ Association (OPSA) is an independent organisation within the Polytechnic. OPSA is run by students for students, and is all about providing for students.

OPSA’s aims are to: Promote and supply services, facilities and amenities for students; Working towards removing barriers to education; Represent the views & concerns of students; Promote the advancement of education.